Originally Posted by
Wycombe
I just done a Carribean fly-cruise with P&O, albeit from LGW.
If arrangements are the same as for this year, the majority of flights from LGW and MAN will be on Tui 787's that have a Premium Economy cabin (it was almost empty on our outbound flight). This year, for reasons that have been much-debated and rumoured, P&O brought in (somewhat late-in-the-day) Maleth-Aero with an A332 based at each of MAN and LGW to operate some of the flights to BGI and ANU (where the 2 ships based in the Carribean this winter turn-around).
This move has caused some disatisfaction, as some people who had booked Premium Econ flights had their bookings moved to these flights, which don't have a PE cabin. The Maleth aircraft also don't have IFE (whereas the Tui 787's do). There have also been some big delays to some of the Maleth flights (their flight back to MAN from our cruise incurred a 12-hour delay) and there has been the diversion to BDA referred to above and covered in a separate thread (although the CAT encounter could have happened to any airline).
P&O passenger forums are full of negative feedback about these issues and the use of Maleth (there is some positive aswell, but it's in the minority). Who knows whether they will be used again, but if I was a betting man I would say not (it seems to have been a short-notice arrangement in any case). Tui have been used for many years, so that seems less likely to change. Some pax also find themselves on scheduled flights (there were a small number on our cruise who flew VS to/from LHR).
Thank you and others for your feedback.